


long long ago, up in the mountains

by chuudeiya



Series: daisuga week 2020 [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, DaiSuga Week, DaiSuga Week 2020, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending?, How Do I Tag, Human Sawamura Daichi, Lovers to Strangers to Friends to Lovers?, M/M, No comment about the angst, Reincarnation, Slow burn? I don't know, Spirit Sugawara Koushi, The fluff is kinda light, if there are more characters i will tag them later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26578309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chuudeiya/pseuds/chuudeiya
Summary: Everyone in Daichi's town knew of the Snow Vampire, the pretty spirit who liked to prey on people who got lost in the mountains, luring people with his beauty and sucking their souls after freezing them to death.After a coincidental meeting with the spirit, strange things started to occur to Daichi. Daichi was determined to find out the reason why and whether it had any connection to the beautiful and mysterious Snow Vampire.
Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Series: daisuga week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931407
Comments: 9
Kudos: 15
Collections: DaiSugaWeek2020





	long long ago, up in the mountains

**Author's Note:**

> written for daisuga week 2020 day 3 prompt: mythology.
> 
> thank you very much to [rou](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/hailexcalibur) for keeping up with my ramblings and questions! you're the best <3

_“Dai-chan, I advise you not to go to the mountains too often, especially during winter.”_

_“Why is it, Granny?”_

_“Granny is afraid Dai-chan will be taken away by the Snow Vampire.”_

_“Who is the Snow Vampire? Please tell me, Granny!”_

_“Why do you want to know so much?”_

_“So that if I meet the Snow Vampire when I play in the mountains, I can fight him! That way I won't be taken away! Right?”_

_“But are you brave enough to do that?”_

_“Why? Is the Snow Vampire a scary and strong person?”_

_“Well, let me tell you more about that…”_

* * *

If someone asked him what was the story from his childhood that he remembered clearly until this day, Daichi’s answer would be the tale of the Snow Vampire.

The tale of the Snow Vampire was a story that all families in his town knew very well, as it was told from generation to generation. Everyone knew about the story of a pretty spirit in the mountains who would lure people with his beauty and freeze them before sucking their life energy, delivering them to their death.

For young children, including Daichi, that story was their worst nightmare. He remembered his grandmother first told him the story when he was five, telling him not to go to the mountains often because of the Snow Vampire. After hearing that story, little Daichi couldn't sleep for a few nights. He was absolutely scared that the Snow Vampire would hunt him down and suck his soul, even though his grandma already told him that the Snow Vampire only lived in the mountains and thus, wouldn't come down to hunt him. To make it worse, sometimes his cousin would pretend to be a Snow Vampire, fake-sucking his life energy and he'd fall for the same trick over and over again, his cousin stopping only when he cried.

The story affected him so much, not only because it was scary for a five year old to imagine a spirit sucking the life out of a human, killing them, but also because he often went up the mountains to play with his friends. For so long, he hated mountains and winter. But as he grew older, he stopped believing in it, thinking it was just a way for parents to control their children so they wouldn’t play in the mountains too often, especially during winter since it was easy to get lost.

So Daichi thought _yeah, it’s only a myth_ as he went up the mountains on a cold winter day clad in his winter outfit, ready to pick some herbs to be sold.

But right now, when he realized that he got lost in the mountains during winter, his grandma's voice telling him the story of the Snow Vampire popped in his mind again, haunting him. The air was cold and so was the wind, but it didn’t stop Daichi from getting cold sweat when his mind supplied him the same story over and over again.

“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath when he found the same tree he had passed before, the one he had left a mark on the snow. Daichi breathed out, trying to calm himself down, but he failed as his hands kept on trembling from cold, fear, and panic.

_Calm down, Daichi. Let’s figure the way out._

He tried his best to stay calm as he left yet another mark on the tree nearest to where he stood right now. He looked at his surroundings, which were only filled with snow-covered trees and snow-covered ground, and decided to take the path he hadn’t gone on before.

The sounds of snow crunching under his boots filled the air as he walked, trying to navigate his way among the trees. The air was cold and Daichi shivered a few times, even though he had worn his warmest winter outfit, paired with the warmest gloves and socks he could find at home. He felt the tip of his nose getting cold and redder, cursing under his breath when his nose got runny after a few minutes of walking. He covered his face as best as he could using his glove-covered hands and he felt slightly better, even though it wasn’t much.

The situation was still not good, though. He had to get out of this situation fast before he died from hypothermia.

A few minutes passed by and he seemed to have walked into another part of the forest. He stopped and breathed, a puff of hot breath forming in the air. He looked around, trying to figure out whether he took the right course or not—

—and then, his eyes caught _him_ from behind the trees. Daichi saw the spirit from the tale that had been haunting his childhood—the Snow Vampire.

Daichi rubbed his eyes just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating because the spirit looked like he was blending with the snow with an all-white _kimono_ and skin as pale as his surroundings. But he knew he wasn't hallucinating because he could see light gray hair—the only trait of the spirit that was easy to distinguish.

 _Remember, Dai-chan._ His grandmother's voice was played over and over in his mind. _An all-white_ kimono _, skin as pale as the snow, and light gray hair. Those are the traits of the Snow Vampire._

Yeah. Daichi was absolutely sure that it was the Snow Vampire.

Daichi’s body froze when he saw the spirit hovering over a body on the snow, face terribly close to the poor human’s. He had to cover his mouth with his hands and bit his lower lip hard to not let a scream out when the spirit lunged forward, sucking the life out of the frozen body.

Never would’ve he thought he’d see someone’s soul being sucked out in the living daylights. If he went back to the time when he had just stepped out of his warm house to go to the mountains and told his past self that _yeah, you’ll see the real snow vampire today_ , his past self would’ve laughed at him. Or screamed out of fear. Or both.

His mind immediately went into a panic mode. _The fuck should I do now?_ He thought to himself. He thought of two options: the first one was staying still until the spirit was done and went away, the other was running away. But as he kept on thinking, neither of the options would work. There was a chance he could escape the spirit if he stayed and waited, but he was freezing and he’d probably die from the cold first before the spirit could get to him.

On the other hand, if he decided to run away, the spirit would hear the sound of the snow crunching under his feet and chase after him. Daichi was sure he’d manage to catch him because his knees were wobbly and he wasn’t sure he could run without tripping. Then, the spirit would feast upon Daichi’s soul, and it would be over for him.

Both options would mean Daichi’s death and Daichi preferred getting out of this situation alive, thank you very much.

But again, the question was: _how?_

Daichi shivered again, lips quivering as the cold wind hit his face harshly. His teeth chattered and Daichi knew he had to make a decision _fast_.

 _Think, Daichi. How to get out of this death or death situation?_ He forced his mind to think, even though all he could think about was how cold it was and how he’d prefer to stay under the safety of his warm blanket at home. _Think, think, think—_

And then, he was struck with an idea: how about walking as softly as possible, without making any sound? Perhaps it wasn’t a bright one, but Daichi could think no more. He’d rather die trying rather than standing there doing nothing, waiting for the cold or the spirit to claim him.

So he started to move backward as gently as possible. It was a bit hard because his feet were freezing. One step, two steps, the spirit thankfully hadn't realized yet.

Another step. There was hope now. Daichi was sure he could escape—

“You, behind the tree there. Don't. Move.”

Daichi froze abruptly. He felt the blood rushing away from his face and his heart started to beat at a really fast pace. How did the spirit know he was there, behind the tree? He thought he wasn’t making any sounds whatsoever.

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck—_

Daichi stood still. There was eerie silence—no sounds of breathing as Daichi didn’t dare to breathe. But in his head, it was loud with the sound of his thumping heart and panicked screams. _Oh God, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to_ —

Daichi did not want to die.

Honestly, even if it sounded ridiculous, the only logical thing to do right now was obeying the spirit’s voice. Perhaps, by obeying, the spirit would take a pity on him and let him go. However, Daichi obviously wasn’t in his right mind—his head was spinning and his whole body freezing—and thus, couldn’t think logically. So, instead of staying still (and risking getting himself killed), he ran straight as fast as he could, screaming as he did so.

But of course, the spirit was not happy with what Daichi did.

“I SAID DON’T MOVE!”

There was a quick _SWISH_ in the air and the next thing he felt his feet being frozen. He yelped as he tripped, falling on his back with a loud ‘oof’. A few seconds later, the spirit hovered above him, pinning him down.

It was cold—the air, the wind, his whole body, the snow on his back, the spirit. The wind blew harshly against his face, but it was gentle to the spirit as it caressed his hair softly like it was greeting an old friend.

And then, when their eyes met, Daichi finally understood what 'luring people with his beauty' meant in the story. The spirit was indeed beautiful, with light gray hair framing his pale face, eyes as brown as the trunk of a tree, and a little beauty mark under his right eye. _Ethereal_ , his mind supplied.

(Daichi was amazed at the ability of his own brain to think of words like _ethereal_ to describe the spirit, even on the verge of shutting down from fear.)

Especially his eyes. They were icy and commanding, forcing Daichi to look at him. It felt like his soul was being absorbed with just a stare. But at the same time, they were also stunning and irresistible, and Daichi was torn between tearing his eyes away from fear or staring into those gorgeous brown eyes.

Daichi didn't dare to breathe, afraid of ticking the spirit off even with the smallest action. So he laid there on the snow, holding his breath and trying his best to stop shivering under the spirit's touch.

Time felt like it was passing very slowly. The spirit stared at him with narrowed eyes and Daichi stared back, eyes wide and afraid. He first wondered whether the spirit was thinking of freezing him first or eating him while still fresh. But as seconds passed by, slowly, the spirit’s eyes went wide as if he had just realized something. Daichi hoped it was the realization that Daichi’s soul wouldn’t taste so good regardless of what he did first.

“You...” The spirit suddenly spoke. A soft, whispering voice that somehow did not suit him at all.

He waited for the spirit to continue, but the words hung in the air said and the spirit left it at that. Yet, his eyes were still wide as if he was staring at a ghost—which Daichi found ridiculous because _he_ was the ghost.

The wind blew again, this time gentler than before, but still harsh on Daichi’s face. The sounds of leaves rustling filled the tense air, breaking the silence between them.

Daichi hated the suspense. He hated having to waste another second being nervous over the idea of getting killed as a spirit’s meal.

He blurted out while trying to sound as brave as he could, but failed because all that came out was a weak question paired with chattering teeth, “A—Are you going to kill me...?”

The spirit looked startled (Daichi didn’t know that a spirit could be startled. He had always assumed that nothing in this world could faze them anymore) when he heard the question. He narrowed his eyes again, studying Daichi carefully. Daichi gulped, feeling himself starting to break into a cold sweat as his mind started to scream in panic again.

 _Please, I swear my soul doesn't taste good._ Daichi prayed silently. _Please do not eat me!_

It was either the Gods told his prayers to the spirit or the spirit could read his mind because the next moment, the spirit let go of him and said, “...I will spare you this time.”

For a moment, Daichi said nothing—the spirit’s answer certainly caught him off guard. The snow vampire let go of his body, standing up and turning his back against Daichi before staring off into the forest, seemingly lost in thought. Somehow, his eyes didn’t look as icy and intimidating as before. Rather, they looked... kind of empty?

“Go home and never come back,” he ordered, “or else I will kill you the next time I see you.” 

He defrosted the ice forming around Daichi’s feet. And with that threat, he started to walk away from Daichi slowly, still looking a bit lost.

Daichi blinked once and in an instant, the spirit’s eyes went back to icy and intimidating. He had a hardened expression on his face, like he wasn’t joking with his threat.

_What?_

Daichi said nothing—he was still scared and dazed because his prayers somehow _worked_. But there were a lot of questions in his mind: why did the spirit suddenly decide to spare him? It wasn’t like he didn’t appreciate the decision, but Daichi was a little bit confused. The spirit looked off—unlike the stories he had heard before. First, he looked surprised when he saw Daichi. Then, he trailed off, also when he was staring at him, whatever it meant. And then, he let him go, even though with a threat.

As far as he knew, he had heard that the Snow Vampire would sometimes decide to let go of his victim. But it was incredibly rare and no one knew the reason behind it.

Perhaps he was one of those extremely lucky people. Perhaps, this was his karma coming back at him for helping the elderly people in his town every day. Perhaps, the Snow Vampire was feeling a bit full from his victim before. Perhaps, the Snow Vampire had another reason.

Daichi was curious, but he was not stupid. Curiosity killed the cat and Daichi was no cat.

Who cared what reasons the Snow Vampire had for not killing him. If it meant that Daichi could get out of this alive, then he would ask nothing.

He quickly stood up, a bit wobbly and about to run away from the Snow Vampire as fast as he could before he remembered how he had got into this situation in the first hand: he got lost and he didn’t know the way home.

 _Fuck_ , he cursed again. Now what?

 _How about asking the Snow Vampire?_ A part of his brain suggested. _He spared your life after all. Who knows, perhaps he’s nice enough to tell you the way home._

 _Are you insane?_ Another part of his brain (the logical one, Daichi assumed) shouted. _He’s THE Snow Vampire. He’s an evil spirit! Why would you ask him that?_

 _What kind of evil spirit lets you go after he caught you?_ The former argued. _You shouldn't judge a book by its cover!_

Two parts in his mind kept on arguing back and forth, but Daichi's lips seemed to have a mind on its own. Before he could process whatever the heck he was saying, his mouth opened, inquiring weakly, “C—Could you… S—Show me the way home?”

…Perhaps Daichi was a cat, after all. 

The spirit stopped in his track and turned around, looking at him with a cold look, as if saying _are you_ that _stupid?_ But the deed had been done and Daichi couldn’t take it back, so there was nothing he could do.

“I—I got lost,” he tried to reason, trembling under the icy look. _As if the spirit would accept that excuse_. The spirit frowned, looking at him for a few seconds before he turned back and continued his way without saying anything else.

_Of course. Why would the Snow Vampire help him, a mere human who had almost become his meal? He was just lucky the spirit spared him, and yet he had the nerve to test his luck again by asking him the way home?_

Daichi turned his back, facing away from the Snow Vampire. He intended to give his surroundings another look before deciding which path he should take next, but his eyes widened in surprise when he saw a path made from cleared snow in front of his eyes.

“Oh my God,” he mumbled to himself, not believing what he was seeing. Did the spirit actually help him? Why was the spirit being nice to him? Not that Daichi wanted the spirit to be evil and kill him, but he was just confused. All his childhood, he had always believed that the Snow Vampire was a dreadful and evil spirit. But after encountering him by himself, Daichi wasn’t sure of it anymore. Or, did he really just get lucky?

Regardless of whatever reason the spirit had, Daichi was still thankful. So, he turned around to say thank you, but the spirit was already gone. Behind him, there was only the soulless body the spirit had devoured and tall evergreen trees covered in snow—no signs of a spirit clad in white _kimono_ whatsoever. He vanished just like that, as if he had never existed at all.

“Thank you,” Daichi said regardless of whether the spirit could hear him or not. The wind blew again, the leaves rustling softly and Daichi walked, following the path made on the snow.

He hoped the wind would kindly deliver his gratitude to the Snow Vampire.

* * *

It had been a week, but Daichi couldn’t get the spirit out of his mind.

He had been haunting him—when he opened his eyes, when he brushed his teeth, when he showered, when he helped the townspeople with their jobs, when he was cooking and eating, when he closed his eyes, and even when he was sleeping. Once, he dreamt about him—those icy eyes which slowly turned into sad ones, the words left hanging in the air by the spirit—and Daichi woke up, breathing harsh and sweating bullets.

Daichi tried a lot of things to get him out of his mind. He tried busying himself with his other jobs: selling stuff in the market and helping the younger kids with their studies. He even avoided going up the mountains to forget about everything.

But, as he laid down on his _futon_ every night, a certain gray-haired and pale-skinned spirit haunted his mind again. And every time it happened, something inside him felt uneasy, but he couldn’t pinpoint what made him feel that way. It made him feel uncomfortable.

And not only that. He had also been feeling slight pain on his chest ever since his meeting with the spirit.

“P—Perhaps, you’ve been cursed by the spirit?” His best friend, Azumane Asahi, said with a small and shaky voice from behind the counter of his shop after Daichi told him of his encounter with the Snow Vampire. He hadn’t told anyone else except Asahi and he specifically asked him not to tell about it to anyone else, which was why Asahi spoke in a whispery voice—it was crowded in the market and it would be huge news if other people heard about it.

Daichi had thought about that happening to him, that he might’ve been cursed by the Snow Vampire. _Of course,_ the Snow Vampire wouldn’t let go of him that easily, right? Asahi’s words made some sense, but he didn’t have any evidence, so he didn’t know for sure.

“I’ve never heard of the Snow Vampire cursing someone before,” Daichi said, rubbing his chin as he frowned, thinking. “I don’t think that the story I heard before mentioned that too.”

“Me neither,” replied Asahi. “B—But, you never know how a spirit thinks, you know? So...” He trailed off, voice getting smaller.

They fell into silence with Daichi thinking and Asahi looking at him with worried eyes while wiping the counter with a wet cloth.

A bunch of kids ran past them quickly, their laughter filling the air. It was lively, with sellers promoting their stuff and customers bargaining the prices. The noisiness didn't bother Daichi as he leaned against the counter of Asahi’s shop, eyes blank while staring at the clear sky above. They stayed like that for some time, with Daichi thinking and Asahi observing people in silence.

“Do you think I should go and ask Tanaka? See if I’m really cursed?” Daichi asked nonchalantly, breaking the silence between them after a while.

“Do you reckon he’d know?” Asahi asked back.

“Isn’t a shaman supposed to know that?” Daichi looked at Asahi, who shrugged as a response.

“I don’t know,” he said truthfully. “But I guess, there’s only one way to know.”

And that was the reason why Daichi was at the temple just a day after his conversation with Asahi, sitting on a cushion on the temple floor with Tanaka in front of him, a table full of shaman stuff between them.

“So,” Tanaka started, sounding serious and Daichi gulped from the tension, “what brings you here on this nice day, Daichi-san?”

“I think,” Daichi licked his lower lip, “I have been cursed by a spirit.”

He told the young shaman about his condition, about the tugging feeling and the constant pain in his chest. He told him when it started to happen, which was approximately two days after his meeting with the Snow Vampire. Tanaka nodded along when he was talking and he closed his eyes to think when Daichi finished.

“Do you know the spirit? Could you tell me anything about it?” Tanaka asked.

“Do I have to?” Daichi asked back because he didn’t really want to give out too many details about it to someone else.

“Well, you don’t have to.” Tanaka shrugged, arms crossing over his chest. “But it would be easier for me if you could share some info about it.”

“To be honest, I know nothing much except that when I met the spirit, he was going to kill me, but then decided to spare my life somehow.” He explained, lying a bit about knowing nothing much, but the rest of them were true. If Tanaka noticed that he was lying, he didn’t show it.

Tanaka whistled in a low voice instead. “You are one extremely lucky person, Daichi-san.”

Daichi’s only reply was a soft chuckle and an awkward rub on his nape. “Yeah, I think so too.”

“Okay,” Tanaka said, reaching for his shaman rattle from the table between them. “I’ll see if I can get any information to help you.”

Then, the young shaman closed his eyes and started the ritual, one hand shaking the rattle while mumbling some chants. It went on for a few minutes, with Daichi getting startled a few times when Tanaka started to shout out of nowhere.

When Tanaka opened his eyes again, Daichi fixed his sitting position and looked at the young shaman eagerly. “So? Did you find out anything?”

Tanaka put down the rattle and crossed his arms again, frowning as he did so.

“Well,” he said, “I did find out about something, but it’s not much.”

“It’s fine,” Daichi quickly responded. He just needed an answer.

“I have two news for you,” announced Tanaka, holding up ‘2’ with his fingers. “One good and the other bad.”

 _Oh no._ He wasn’t ready for the bad news. “Give me the good one first.”

“Okay.” Tanaka breathed out. “Good news is you’re not cursed. Even though you said the pain is constant, you’ll be fine and you won’t die from it.”

Daichi cheered to himself, happy to know that he wasn’t going to die from a spirit’s curse. “So, the pain is probably a side effect from being out in the cold for too long?”

“Uh, no.” Tanaka scratched his bald head and Daichi blinked, a confused expression on his face. “As far as I know, the pain and tugging feeling you have are still connected with the spirit, but it isn’t something that can harm you fatally. Something like that.”

Daichi groaned to himself. _Fuck_ , so it _did_ have a connection with the snow vampire after all. “How to cure it?”

Tanaka was silent for a moment. He looked at Daichi with a nervous look and Daichi unconsciously held his breath, waiting for Tanaka to say anything.

“You have to go and see the spirit again, because I think this is something only the spirit can answer,” Tanaka told him, dropping the bomb. “That’s it. That’s the bad news. And that is all I could gather from my ritual.”

Daichi’s heart sank. He had to go and see the spirit again? Wouldn’t that mean he’d die? Daichi shivered as he remembered the spirit’s threat. _Never come back or else I will kill you the next time I see you_. If he decided to go to seek an answer, wouldn’t that mean he was signing up for his death?

Tanaka looked at him with a worried expression. “Daichi-san,” he called, but Daichi didn’t say anything because he was too busy thinking about what step he’d take next. Should he ignore the pain? Or should he strive for an answer and hope that the spirit would spare his life for the second time?

“Daichi-san,” Tanaka called again and this time, Daichi looked up, eyes meeting Tanaka’s. The young shaman sighed, one hand massaging his temple. “I don’t think you should go and see the spirit, though.”

“Should I live with the pain instead?” Daichi asked, mind now blank.

“Ugh, this is such a bad situation,” Tanaka complained and rubbed his face before taking a deep breath. “Look. I wasn’t saying that you should live with the pain. But, considering that the spirit tried to kill you even though he let you go in the end…” Tanaka shook his head, showing his disapproval. “I don’t think you should try and risk your life.”

Daichi was quiet for a moment, letting Tanaka's words sink in.

Tanaka was right. He could handle a little bit of pain in the chest. To meet the spirit again and risk himself getting killed... Only a fool would go down the same path twice.

“Okay.” Daichi nodded. “Besides, you said it’s not fatal, so there’s nothing I should worry about. Right?”

“Yeah, right.” Tanaka nodded.

* * *

Tanaka was, in fact, not right. Daichi found that out a week after he met the young shaman.

When the young shaman said that the pain wouldn’t be fatal, Daichi was like ‘ _okay sure, I can handle living with a little bit of pain on my chest_ ’. But, after a week, the pain gradually got worse and Daichi thought that no, he couldn’t handle living with this chest pain anymore.

When it got really bad sometimes, even breathing became a painful process for him. Not only the pain, but the tugging and uneasy feeling became much worse. Sometimes, it didn’t feel much. But, occasionally, it would hurt him so much to the point that he shed some tears over it.

He had tried going to the doctor the day after his meeting with Tanaka. The doctor only gave him some medicine to consume, but it also didn’t work as the pain only got worse.

In a week, he also managed to identify what the feeling felt like: it was like someone was pulling his heart away. Like trying to live without something that had been a part of him for so long.

Daichi fed himself a spoonful of food in silence, munching on his rice as he pondered over everything—his meeting with the Snow Vampire, the spirit’s surprised eyes, the reason behind the spirit sparing his life, the pain and the tugging that followed after.

When he finished his meal and stood up to bring his plate to the sink, the pain suddenly got stronger and Daichi fell on his knees, gasping for air. The plate he was holding fell out of his grip and crashed to the floor loudly, shattering it to pieces, but Daichi could care less about that. He gasped and gritted, hand clutching his shirt when the pain hit again, harder than before.

His vision got blurry and it took him a while to register that he was crying.

No matter how hard he wanted to stop crying, he couldn’t. It was weird even for him, because he wasn’t sad and he didn’t know for what exact reason he was crying. But that tugging feeling came back again, like it was yelling at him to do something.

“What do you want?!” He yelled weakly, sobbing. He was tired of feeling pain, tired of crying for no reason. He was tired of being haunted by one certain spirit in his mind.

He laid down on the floor, sobbing and gasping for air for quite some time until his eyes felt puffy and he had no tears left to cry. The house went back to being silent, save for some hiccuping sounds he couldn’t hold back.

Daichi breathed out in an attempt to calm himself down. The pain had subdued and all that left was just a slight sting now. Daichi hoped the next wave of extreme pain wouldn’t be so soon. He didn’t think he could recover if he had one so soon after this one.

The constant sound of the clock ticking filled the room and Daichi tried to match his breathing with it.

 _That’s it,_ Daichi thought once he felt slightly better. _No more waiting. I’ll see the Snow Vampire again and I’ll put an end to this pain_.

It would be a gamble. A fifty-fifty chance of him dying from pain or dying by the Snow Vampire's hand. Daichi would rather die by the spirit’s hand—it seemed like it would be a quick and painless death rather than getting tormented by pain to death. Daichi was no masochist after all.

Laying on the floor with a runny nose and face full of tear streaks as the evidence of the extreme pain he experienced occasionally, Daichi finally made up his mind to go and seek the Snow Vampire again tomorrow, even if it meant risking his life.

* * *

The next day after he had finished dressing himself up as warmly as possible, he went up the mountains, got lost, and finally saw the Snow Vampire as the spirit was about to consume a poor, dead human’s soul _again_.

Daichi chuckled weakly to himself, feeling his knees about to buckle from fear when the spirit lounged forward, sucking the soul out of the dead human’s mouth. He tried not to think that it could be him next that was laying on the snow, freezing, with a spirit hovering near him and about to suck the life out of him.

He was torn between approaching the spirit or staying there because _this was obviously a really bad idea_ when the Snow Vampire's voice rang in the air. “Why did you come back?”

Daichi thought he was ready to risk it all yesterday, even his life. Yet, when he heard the spirit’s voice, he still got startled, eyes widening and heart beating at a fast pace. He still got jumpy, hands and back sweating from the nervousness. He still stood there, frozen for a minute, the color draining from his face, fearing for his life.

 _So he remembered me_ , he thought to himself, feeling a bit disappointed. He had hoped that the spirit wouldn’t recognize him, so that he wouldn’t remember the threat he made back then. He still hoped for the slim chance that the Snow Vampire did not remember about the threat at all.

Daichi stepped a foot forward, trying to explain himself. “I—”

His words got cut off as he shrieked in fear when sharp icicles started to form near his right foot.

“Do not come closer.” The Snow Vampire threatened. “Or I will form holes on your foot.”

Daichi gulped, taking his foot back to where it was before. “Sorry,” he apologized quickly, hoping it wouldn’t tick the spirit off.

The spirit still hovered near the dead body, not bothering to look at Daichi.

“Why did you come back? I thought I had made it clear that I would kill you the next time we meet.” He asked coldly, each word making Daichi shrink at his place. “I’ve never seen a human so eager to die before.”

 _So eager to die?_ Daichi chuckled nervously at the thought. _Couldn’t be me._

“N—No!” Daichi quickly retorted and shook his head. “You got it wrong! I don’t want to die.”

The spirit said nothing. Daichi took this as a green light to continue talking.

“A few days after our first meeting,” Daichi started, explaining, “I got sick. I feel slight pain on my chest and there’s a tugging feeling inside me. I—I think you cursed me, so I’m here to ask you to cure me.”

The Snow Vampire did not respond. He just stood there, unmoving, and Daichi was scared he had said something wrong. Because all it took was only one tiny mistake and he'd say goodbye to his life. He fiddled with his scarf and wetted his lips a few times, feeling nervous all the while waiting for the Snow Vampire to say something.

It took a terribly long time for the Snow Vampire to finally break the silence. Daichi was getting tired of the feeling of wanting to know the answer, but also scared for his life at the same time.

“What makes you think I will do that?” The Snow Vampire finally asked, voice low. “I hate humans.”

 _Wait_. Did the Snow Vampire unknowingly admit to cursing him? Tanaka said that it wasn't a curse, though—did the young shaman make a mistake in his reading? Daichi did not understand. He didn’t have an answer to the spirit’s question either. What should he say?

“...I don’t know.” He decided to answer truthfully. He had learned from other stories that spirits hated lies. He didn't want to lose his life just because he lied once in front of a spirit. “I just... I just think you’d do it. You spared my life before, so...” He looked at the Snow Vampire, then at his scarf, then at the spirit, and then back at his scarf again.

The spirit didn't respond. Daichi wondered whether he had said something wrong. It would be better if he said something instead of giving him no response at all. It made Daichi overthink and cower in fear, thinking _this is it. This is the time I will finally die._

The air suddenly got colder and Daichi shivered a bit.

When he looked up again, the Snow Vampire suddenly was already in front of him—like a jumpscare in horror movies he used to watch with Asahi—face awfully close to Daichi’s and it made Daichi step back, eyes widening and body jolting in surprise. He let out a loud scream as the spirit narrowed his eyes, staring at him, and Daichi was torn between feeling absolutely scared that this was going to be the moment when he finally lost his life or feeling shy because that gorgeous face was just inches away from his own.

(Yeah, Daichi had no idea either why he still could think about that even in a nerve-wracking situation.)

Daichi quickly covered his mouth, shutting himself from screaming. His heart was still thumping loudly from the shock—it felt like he had just lost ten years of his life.

“You really thought I’d cure you just because I spared you once?” The spirit whispered in a low voice after Daichi stopped screaming. His expression stayed the same—icy, intimidating, and unfazed by Daichi’s ear-shattering scream. It made Daichi shiver somehow—from fear? From the cold? He couldn’t think.

“I, um—”

“How naive!” The Snow Vampire barked, his face finally moved away from Daichi’s and the human let out a tiny breath he didn’t know he was holding. Then, the spirit laughed in a mocking way that made Daichi flinch in surprise. The human yelped, pulling the scarf he was fiddling with and choked himself by accident. He coughed a few times, but the spirit paid him no mind as he continued laughing and stopped when Daichi finally managed to gather himself.

The Snow Vampire leaned closer again, hands on his hips and eyes sharp as he looked at the human in the eye. Daichi inhaled sharply—he could feel the cool air on his skin and on the air he just breathed. It was close—too close for his liking. He certainly did not appreciate being in close proximity to the spirit again. Especially having those brown eyes staring at him with such intensity when he couldn’t even force his heart to calm down yet.

When he felt his face growing hot, he had no choice but to look away, staring at the snowy ground instead. Avoiding looking at him eye to eye seemed like the best way to calm himself down.

(This was no time to be blushing, Daichi was completely aware. However, could you blame him? The Snow Vampire was _gorgeous_ , he couldn’t help himself.)

The spirit gritted his teeth and Daichi felt like the temperature went down just by a little bit. He guessed it had something to do with the spirit’s emotions. “Did you forget what I said to you the last time we met?” He hissed. “Did you think I wouldn’t kill you just because I let you go back then?”

Daichi said nothing. He did not forget, but he also couldn’t deny what the spirit said because _yes_ , he _did_ think that way. That the spirit wouldn’t kill him because he spared his life back then. He was holding onto a thin thread called miracle, and boy was he gripping hard on it to stay alive.

The Snow Vampire sighed and turned around, making Daichi slowly look up at him again. He wondered what kind of expression was on his face. Was he angry? Annoyed? Pissed at him? Did he think he was stupid? Daichi tried his best to hold back a snort that was threatening to come out. If he were the Snow Vampire, he’d certainly think of himself as stupid too. A stupid, brave-for-nothing human who was too eager to die.

He expected the spirit to freeze him in any second without warning, so he shut his eyes tightly and bared himself for the worst. Yet, what happened next was unexpected as he heard the spirit say in a defeated voice: “Go home.”

_What?_

He cracked one eye open and saw the spirit walking away from him. Daichi blinked, a bemused expression on his face as he yelled before he could think, “Wait!”

The spirit stopped and turned his face around, a grim expression on his face like he was saying ‘ _what now?_ ’.

It felt like déjà vu.

He had tons of questions in his mind, yet they all died on his lips. He didn’t know where to start. _Why?_ That was probably the biggest one in his mind. Why did he let him go again? Not that he wanted to die, but why? He had never heard of a spirit letting go of their victim twice for no reason. _Well_ , perhaps the spirit had a reason he did not know, but still, it was weird for Daichi. Why not kill him and be done with him?

So he decided to ask that, to satisfy his curiosity. To get the answer to the countless questions swimming inside his mind.

“Why?” He asked. “Why did you let me go, not once, but twice now?”

He hoped he could get the answer to this question today.

The Snow Vampire looked at him carefully with intense eyes and again, Daichi couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside his mind. He seemed to like being all silent whenever Daichi questioned him.

Daichi breathed, a puff of hot air blurring his sight for a moment. And at that split second, Daichi wasn't sure whether what he saw was right or not because was that a fond smile he saw on the Snow Vampire's face?

The puff of hot air started to disperse and Daichi blinked, but the smile had vanished as quickly as it came.

And then, came the answer from the Snow Vampire.

“You’re an idiot,” he simply said. “Stupidity is a contagious disease and I’d rather starve than catching it from you.”

It was, needless to say, an unexpected answer. 

Daichi’s jaw dropped open. Did he hear it right? _Did he just get insulted by a spirit?_

“What—What does that mean?” He clenched his fists, face a little red and getting a little flustered but he still tried to keep himself composed. “Please don’t joke around with me. I was asking a serious question.”

“What made you think I didn’t answer it seriously?”

“You really think _that_ is a serious answer?”

The spirit sighed again. “Do you really think I’d give out the answer that easily? Of course not.” He gestured at his temple, pointing at it with his index finger. “If you wanna know, you have to think.”

So it was a riddle and not just the spirit blatantly insulting him out of nowhere. Daichi frowned, thinking about possible answers when the spirit chuckled in a mocking way.

“Oh, the ‘you’re an idiot’ part isn’t a riddle though.” He said, grinning cheekily. “It’s a fact.”

His mind went blank as the thought that the Snow Vampire was intimidating temporarily flew out of his head. Daichi suddenly felt an urge to punch the spirit to erase that stupid grin from his face.

“H—Hey! Take that back!”

The spirit gave him one last taunting look before he walked away and disappeared among the trees. Daichi’s already red face got even redder when he realized there was a path made from cleared snow behind him. There was a sentence written on the snow: _I KNOW YOU GOT LOST AGAIN, SO I MADE THE PATH TO LEAD YOU THE WAY HOME. YOU ARE WELCOME._

His lips formed a thin line, making a grim expression as he went down the path the spirit had made without saying anything except a half-hearted mumble saying ‘thank you’ because yeah, the spirit was right. He was indeed lost.

Daichi thought hard along the way home what the spirit could’ve possibly meant.

Yes, he got an answer today. But unfortunately, it wasn’t the answer Daichi was looking for.

* * *

Perhaps the Snow Vampire was right and Daichi was indeed an idiot. Either that, or the Snow Vampire was playing with him and he played right into his trap like a total fool. Either way, Daichi now knew that he was indeed stupid and that until today, which was approximately two weeks after his second meeting with the spirit, he hadn’t managed to figure out what the spirit meant with his answer.

He had been thinking about what the spirit had said— _You’re an idiot, stupidity is a contagious disease and I’d rather starve than catching it from you_. What was that even supposed to mean?

He had tried asking Asahi about that (“Asahi, am I an idiot?”) to which Asahi answered in a panicked voice (“W—Why are you suddenly asking that Daichi? D—Did someone say that to you? I-I-I’d gladly f—fight them for you!”). It didn’t help, but Daichi was happy to know that Asahi, the softest man he’d ever known in his life, was willing to fight for him if some people talked bad about him, even if he said that with a trembling voice.

He had been trying to go up the mountains and look for the Snow Vampire again a couple of times, to ask him about his weird answer and beg him to lift up the curse, but he always failed. Daichi suspected that the Snow Vampire was avoiding him for some reason (because once Daichi almost caught him, but then he vanished into thin air and Daichi had no reason but to go back home with empty hands), which was weird, because why would he feel the need to run away from him? It wasn’t like Daichi could harm him or something. Rather, it should’ve been Daichi running away from him, because the spirit actually had the power to harm him. It confused but also amused Daichi every time he thought of this.

_A spirit running away from humans? Grandma would be shocked in her grave if she heard of this._

Another reason was because of the extreme pain that had been happening more often after their second meeting. Once, Daichi almost passed out on the way down the mountains because it suddenly happened. If it wasn’t for his neighbor Takeda finding him when the milkman was near the area, who knew what could’ve happened to him that day.

Daichi had tried going to the doctor again because his pain got worse and more frequent, to the point that it interfered with his daily life (he had had to break his promise with his neighbor’s young son Hinata to help the boy with his math homework because it was too hard for him to stand and breathe). The doctor didn’t find anything wrong with him, but still prescribed him some medicine. Though, needless to say, the medicine didn’t work at all.

This further convinced Daichi that the pain was indeed connected to the Snow Vampire. He was absolutely sure now that the spirit was the key to cure his pain. Which was why, despite having failed numerous times already, he put on his warmest winter coat and prepared himself to go back up the mountains.

After making sure that the scarf had properly covered his neck, Daichi went out of the comfort of his house and up the mountains, perhaps for the third time this week.

It was bright outside with light snow falling down at a relaxed pace. The snowflakes fell on top of him, melting against the strands of his hair and seeping into his skin, which made him shiver a bit from the cold. The sound of snow crunching under his feet was pleasing to his ears and he smiled. Despite the uneasy tugging feeling and the light sting of pain in his chest, Daichi felt great. He hoped something good would happen to him today.

Like actually managing to find the light gray-haired spirit and break free from the curse.

It was silent up in the mountains. The only sounds filling the silence were the blowing of the wind and the leaves rustling against each other. Daichi walked past the rustling trees, eyes glancing around to try and spot a certain gorgeous spirit. He squinted, trying to see better because the all-white snowy surroundings didn’t help at all and instead made everything harder to see.

He was looking to his right when he suddenly caught the figure of the spirit, standing on a small, open space surrounded by trees.

Daichi covered his mouth, afraid of startling the spirit and making him flee. He approached him slowly, hiding among the trees and trying not to make any noise. The spirit hadn’t noticed him yet. He was just standing there on the snow, head looking at the sky. Daichi wondered what he was thinking, because he looked like he was lost in his thoughts, eyes sad and—

Was that a tear? Daichi saw something sparkled, reflecting the sun’s light, and it rolled down the spirit’s cheek.

Daichi stopped in his tracks, eyes locked on the spirit’s figure. His hair swayed gently from the wind, and under the warm glow of the sun, he shone like an angel in a long white robe—looking absolutely out of this world. The only thing out of place in Daichi’s opinion was the fact that he was crying, looking like he was heartbroken. He thought the spirit was evil. Intimidating. Scary. Cold-blooded. Heartless. And perhaps a bit rude too, since he insulted him out of nowhere back then. But seeing him having a sad expression on his face, looking so fragile and scared and broken, Daichi wondered what or who could be the reason behind that.

(And strangely, something tugged in him even more and suddenly he had this urge to get closer and wipe the tears from his face. It was confusing, but Daichi concluded it was just him feeling sympathetic.)

He was now hiding behind the nearest tree to the spirit. Thankfully, the spirit still hadn’t realized yet; too absorbed in his own thoughts. He was shaking a bit, hands curled into fists, blinking a few times as more tears rolled down his cheeks, falling freely to the snow below.

“I’m sorry.” He heard the spirit mumble.

Who was he apologizing to? Or was he just talking with himself?

“Sorry I have to push you away...” The spirit said again this time in a lower voice, and Daichi held his breath, waiting for the answer. But the spirit trailed off.

And then it was silent for a moment.

Daichi thought he’d leave it at that, so he was about to step closer again when the spirit continued in a whispering voice.

“...Daichi.”

_...What?_

Daichi froze, eyes widening when he heard his name being mentioned. By Daichi, did the spirit mean him? Or was it a different Daichi? But his apology... Was he talking about how he had been avoiding Daichi when he went up the mountains a few times before?

His heartbeat started to pick up its pace and his hands felt a bit clammy. _Now what?_ Should he stay and listen more or should he confront the spirit about this? He could feel the thumping in his head getting louder and his chest tightening, and—

Daichi groaned loudly as he fell on his knees, one hand clutching over his heart.

The Snow Vampire got startled and finally spotted him. His tear-streaked face looked surprised, obviously wasn’t expecting that Daichi would be there. Panic flashed on his face and he looked torn between doing something, but Daichi had no time to think over that as another wave of pain hit again, making him grit his teeth.

 _Help_ —

His eyes met with the spirit’s. Daichi silently pleaded for help, gasping and choking from the air. His eyes started to tear up, blurring his sight.

He could still see the spirit standing there, eyes widening in shock, jaw open, and a hand covering his mouth. Slowly, he moved backward and Daichi vaguely saw him talking because his jaw moved, but Daichi couldn't figure out what he was talking as pain took over him.

_No…! Daichi is hurt… I must help him—_

The spirit kept on mumbling, but soon enough it turned into hysterical as his hands pulled hard on his beautiful light gray hair and he shook his head multiple times.

_No, you idiot—! Do not go! Or else, ————will happen again—_

Something tugged in him again and Daichi yelled in pain as another wave of pain hit him.

Daichi could hear nothing, but he could blurrily make out the spirit saying 'no' over and over.

He took another step backward, slowly inching farther away from Daichi.

“Don't—go—” Daichi croaked out in a whispery voice as he fell onto the snow, eyes slowly getting dark.

He held one hand in front of him in an attempt to reach the spirit, but he was too far away from Daichi.

“W—ait—”

The last thing he saw was the spirit screaming hysterically as he inched farther away from Daichi's body that was laying on the snow.

And then, at last, the darkness finally came to him, easing him from his pain, although it was only temporary.

**Author's Note:**

> can you guess what japanese mythology this is based on? :D
> 
> i'm currently writing the second chapter and it will be up as soon as i finish it! thank you so much for reading and i hope you enjoyed it! <3 scream daisuga with me on [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/chuudeiya)!


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